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P-Indicates a passenger care tire and is a 4ply radial.
LT-Indicates this a a light truck tire and a 6ply radial.

The LT's will last longer and resist heat better. Heat is the biggest killer to a tire. If you tow and/or haul any type of load in your Explorer it would be in your best interest to go with the LT tire. Yes the LT will ride slightly firmer but not that much. You can compensate the ride by running a lower tire pressure when not towing/hauling. This will give you a softer ride. Don't forget to air back up to the manufactures recomendations when adding weight.

The big deal with the Firestones were the fact that Ford put the 4ply (P) tires on a truck rated vehicle. Some people used them as trucks and overloaded the tires. Most of the time the tires were also under inflated when caused excessive heat as well. Firestone did have a defect in the building process but it was also the fault of the driver.

If you ever want to tow something or haul some extra weight just air up your tires to the maximum pressure.

MY Explorer has 10 ply 35" tires. I only run 26psi when just driving around town. It rides better then stock even with the solid axle. My wife's future Explorer will have low profile P rated tires becuase that's all it will be used for.

An example: A P-235-75-15 passenger will have a higher OR same load capacity as most LT-235-75-15 tire. A P-235-75-15 XL (extra load) will carry more weight than a LT tire will but the LT is better suited for loads within their range because of their 6 ply rating. Notice I said 6 ply rating because years ago all LT tires were 6 plies then they came out with 6 ply RATED. Now some are 6 plys and some are 6 ply rated.
Check out any LT-235-75-15 LT truck tire VS a P-235-75-15 tire to see this.

P tires sizes only match LT C rated tire sizes. They don't make P Tires that are D & E sizes.
The highest P standard load tires I have found are Kelly tires. They always seem to be higher weight rated than the others. I have used their P-235-75-15 Wintermark snow tires and they are great in deep snow but have no modern sipes for ice.